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This past week my friend had  asked me if I wanted to join a Co-Op with her and several of her friends from church.  She explained that we would be buying produce from a local farmer’s market in downtown Dallas. Every 2 weeks we would get a box of produce for $10. Every 10 weeks or so, my “group” will be responsible for shopping. Then the ladies divide among the group what they purchased that day. So today was my first delivery.  This is what I got:

carrots, onions, apples, a cucumber, zucchini, bananas, potatoes, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, grapes, and oranges !

All of this was $10!!! I was so excited and to make the day even better, my Zaycon chicken was delivered today as well!

So for dinner I made a recipe I had found on Pinterest of Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken ( using my FRESH chicken) with fried rice (using my fresh onion, carrots, and chicken)

I am looking forward to see all of the great deals on produce and hopefully finding some new recipes to try out some different foods I may not have bought otherwise for my family!

Kurt came in the other night and I told him his little girl had been “extra spicy” today.  It was the best way I could think of describing her.  I am quite embarrassed about how few pictures I have taken over the last month, especially of the kids. But my hands are so full (literally), that I cannot hold a camera and keep up with everyone’s everything. But I can manage at times to pull out the phone and snap a few good ones from time to time.  Here are some from the last few weeks of Ashley and some of her antics.  No matter how many kids you have, I have learned (much like a wise woman once told me YEARS ago), they will all have their own personality. And how much fun it is to experience each and everyone!

She laughs, smiles, cries when she doesn’t get her way, pouts her bottom lip when you correct her, covers her face with her hands when she wants to really be dramatic, and hugs and kisses her brother and sisters ALL the time…melts my heart.

She works her way into our bed at night every now and then…

And she even pushes her big brother out of HIS chair

This journey we are all on is sure gonna be fun! Stay tuned for more

Sydney had her quarterly checkup today at Children’s.  We got to go to “the city”

She was a little late for school so I made her bring some reading with her.

Having an early appointment is the best way to go.  They got us right in. The doctor came in before the nurse even left! They check her blood pressure, height, weight, blood sugar, and the main reason we go is for her A1C.  This tracks her blood sugar for over the last few months.

We are happy to report her number was 6.9!  It is a little higher than last time, but it still falls within the ADA normal range for diabetics.  While there, I met a father who was sitting with 2 little girls, 4 and 7.  He told me all 3 of them were Type 1.  The girls were both diagnosed at 22 months. I can’t imagine.  Type 1 Diabetes can happen to anyone.  Be educated about what it is and what the signs are in kids.  This didn’t happen to Sydney because she ate too much candy or we let her have juice, just like that dad sitting there today, who had lived with it his whole life. It just happens to some and genetics does play a role in it, but still anyone can get it.  Know the signs and be educated so when you talk to parents and kids living with this you don’t say things like “Well, that is why I don’t let my kid have sugar” ( seriously, that was said to me by a friend)

Sydney is one tough little 7 year old that is for sure!

Sydney is doing cheer this winter for a program many First Baptists across the country offer called Upward.  It is 8 games ( I think).  They practice once a week and have one game a week.  I am excited for Sydney to get to try this.  Yesterday was her first game.

She is looking more and more grown up all of the time…

Those pompoms took some serious work!

So cute!

Check out that vertical!  We may have a volleyball player on our hands

Doing her cartwheel for the crowd.

With her buddy MaKenzie.  Later that night, these 2 ladies were lucky enough to go to a Mavs game!!! I can’t wait to see her cheer next week!

We started off Christmas on Christmas Eve by going to church and then to MoMo and PoPo’s for dinner with the rest of the family and some close friends.  When we got home, we let the kids pick one gift to open.

Samantha picked a sparkly black cowboy hat from us.

Sydney opened some pink boots from Aunt Ceil and Uncle Jimmy.

Kyle picked the remote control car that goes in the water and on land from Aunt Kathy and Uncle Mike.

We didn’t let Ashley open anything.  Sorry kid.

Santa came later that night.

Santa doesn’t wrap presents at our house.

Kyle got the bat cave he had seen at Wal-Mart that he wanted so bad and a talking/glowing alarm clock that reads stories to him when you push a button.  It is pretty cool.

Ashley had one gift from Santa. A baby bed and stroller type combo.

.Samantha’s favorite gift from Santa was the Polly Pocket Soccer/skating thing…

Sydney read the letter from Santa. In the letter he explained where the trampoline came from.  Grandma and Papa had Santa drop it off his sled from them to the kids.  And also in the letter Santa explained why he didn’t bring Sydney everything she asked for. (She had only asked for 2things this year. A lalaloopsy and a cure for Diabetes..only one of those came) He explained there were very smart people working on a cure and hopefully one day she will get the cure!

The Polly Pocket mermaid from Sydney

Loving the gifts from each other

We wrapped up some old baby dolls and accessories that the girls don’t play with anymore and gave them to Ashley. She LOVED them. The kid loves baby dolls.

He was so excited to get an umbrella and rain boots from Aunt Ceil and Uncle Jimmy.  One of the things Kyle kept asking for was an umbrella!

.Aunt Linda and Uncle Lee sent us an ice cream maker! I am so excited to start whipping out some soft serve ice cream.

Sydney and Samantha got these jewelry boxes from Aunt Linda and Uncle Lee.  The girls loved them

The girls all received collector dolls from Aunt Kathy and Aunt Ceil.  We have started reading Charlotte’s Web that came with one of the dolls.

Kyle received tons of superhero toys.  This was a bat mobile to go along with his batcave and his superheros!

Christmas afternoon MoMo, PoPo, Aunt Brianne, and Tina came over to open gifts.  Sydney gave MoMo a picture she had made at school.  MoMo said it was her favorite gift. And dang, I didn’t get a picture of the actual artwork!

Sydney, who is my hat girl, received 4 hats all together for Christmas.  She is wearing them all on her head!

And the girls also got an inflatable chair for their room that Kyle couldn’t wait to sit in just to drive them crazy.  He looks so proud of himself.

A great Christmas. Church on Christmas day! Lots of family time and the kids are so much fun with opening gifts. We had an insane about of paper and trash for trash day. Now on to a “new” year. Time just seems to move a little faster each year. I am looking forward to what 2012 has in store for all of us!

While we were home in Illinois, I finally got to meet Maylea! My friend Kristy drove in for the day so we could visit.

The kids opened gifts.  Sydney got her first Lalaloopsy! She was thrilled.

Samantha got a razor and loved it.

Kyle got transformers, which Kurt and I are convinced you need an engineering degree to put together.

Tadan got a remote control helicopter and truck..

I think all of the kids were happy! Ashley wasn’t too crazy about be holding Maylea. But we did eventually warm up and wanted to hug and kiss her.

Then it was time for our annual picture.

Once returning home, we had more Christmas activities! My friend Jenny hosted her annual Mommy and Me Tea. The girls and I were ready to go!

As always, she does an amazing job. Everything is beautiful!

The girls had a great time. We had to leave a little early for a Baptism/Birthday party.  This past year we had 8 babies born within a couple of months of each other. This is one of her little best buds from church and school. They get so excited when they see each other. So cute!

And then all the decorating of food! One of, if not my favorite part of Christmas time.  Kurt and the kids did a gingerbread house while I ran last minute errands one day. (Which is fine with me because I am not a perfectionist and mine would not have turned out so cute)

Then we invited some friends over this year to enjoy the cookies with us. Kyle and Sydney were so excited.  They were dancing!

We painted ornaments.

Rolled out

Baked

And frosted sugar cookies

The kids made reindeer food. Afterwards, the kids spent a lot of time outside because it was like 65 while the Mommy and I chatted when the work was done!

And later I made my Aunt Kathy’s kiss cookies.

And I made a Red Velvet Roll. (idea from wherelse…Pinterest!) I had never made a roll cake before, but I thought for Christmas dinner, it would be nice. (And it was red, so I thought how pretty it would look )

Christmas pictures to come later!

*** Warning! This post is overdue and will contain a lot of pictures.

I love transforming the house for Christmas.  I will speak for Kurt on this one and say I know how much he loves getting all of the decorations out and moving things around too. But really, there is something magical about when the tree goes up and the excited with the kids. Love it!

This kid does like 1000 cartwheels a day.

I love letting the kids hang out upstairs and watch a movie in their little chairs ( This really has nothing to do with Christmas, but it was on the camera and I wanted to remember how cute they were at this age)

Our Sunday school Christmas party…I have said it before and I will say it again, I love these people.  I am so glad in our walk of life we ran into each other. That is as sentimental as I am going to get…

I made crayon Christmas trees as gifts this year to put in goodie bags… I should have put a disclaimer on them. I heard one of my cousins sampled it because they were sure if it was chocolate or not. It wasn’t chocolate.

Sydney and Samantha had their school parties.  Sydney is now in 2nd so not every single parent shows up (like in Kindergarten). But we still had lots. I love seeing the kids with their friends from school.  2nd graders are goofy little things, some more than others.  That is all I am saying about that one

(Kyle’s school musical)

Samantha’s best friend

Samantha’s class, being in kinder, were all so calm and quiet. Very different from the 2nd grade party.  I think they are still scared to show their parents how weird they are. It will pass by 2nd grade.

Then we were off to Illinois.  We left right after the school parties.  All 6 of us made it on this trip.  Kurt hadn’t been in 2 years so it was nice to have the help on this one.  The kids did great on the road.  We made it in and stayed at my mom’s.  We had our family party on Saturday.

Look at all of those yummy desserts. My favorite part. Yum!  We have so many good cooks in our family. (these desserts are brought to you by Pinterest)

I was so glad to see this face. We talk everyday so it is nice to actually see them in person.

And this guy. We go way back.  We had a duet once in 5th grade, that I think we still manage to talk about every time we see one another. Talk about our glory days. He deejayed the event. The little ones were really getting down on the dance floor. (If you are in Southern Illinois and need a DJ, check out the Mobile Music Man) Oh, and he is my cousin.

My aunts and uncles.

My brothers. And I am wearing my cowboy boots, which gives me like 3 more inches.

The kids loved the fish tank and Grandma’s and PaPa’s.  They have bugged us about getting one. I said let’s keep it special here.

And the presents….We opened gifts that night with my parents.

Bacon for Andy!

The most special gift was given to Sydney and Samantha.  My mom got the last quilt my grandmother had made.  She had made the top to 2 and my mom had them finished. I will post more about that later…

Anyway, great trip to Illinois.  The kids LOVE going. It was a fast trip but a good one.  We will go back in July.

We are seeing a trend with  Ashley sitting on laps…she doesn’t like it.

We took the kids to visit the real Santa at North Park Friday night. I had went early that morning to get our ticket to line up. We were rookies last year with this Santa and we just showed up expecting to get out picture taken with Santa (which we did, just like 4 hours later) So, piece of advice, if you ever want to see the North Park Santa, go early that morning to get your ticket, because tonight, we only waited about 30 minutes. It wasn’t bad at all.

I had told my mom I knew Ashley would not like Santa, just call it a hunch, but she isn’t really crazy about people with beards and especially strangers. I wish I could have had audio of this. It was priceless. The moment Ashley spotted Santa, a shrieking noise came out of her.But the other kids were so professional. They didn’t let their baby sister’s fear of the bearded man deter them from taking a great picture with Santa.

Ashley wore the same dress Sydney wore with Santa her first Christmas. Sydney had a better relationship with Santa

Santa was so great with the kids. After I took Ashley from him, he kept the kids and talked to them. He didn’t try to rush. He identified them all by name, listened to their list, and asked them what they were going to leave for him to eat. He is so worth the wait, really. The photographer captured this next picture and it is perfect. I guess they don’t typically do this shot, but they are all listening and so enthralled with Santa. He even remembered from Sydney’s letter that she wanted 2 front teeth!

Yesterday, I completed an 8 mile mud run race know as the Spartan.  My friend Dorothy was nice enough to run it with me.  She had done another mud race a few weeks ago. She says that this race was much, much tougher than the other run that she had done. This was one tough race with more than 26 obstacles.

I had been “training” for months.  Really, I had just been working out and running for myself and knew that it would help me in the race. At one point, I told Kurt that I should try running wet, because I had read it on a blog and someone said it would help me mentally prepare for the race. So Kurt was happy to wake up early and spray me down one morning Check out the video

Dorothy and I showed up Saturday morning ready! It was about 50 degrees and misting. It was actually great race weather. It made for much more mud:) We ran into a girl I knew.  She wanted to run with us. I told her we might slow her down.  Needless to say, by about the 1/2 mile mark, she was gone

I will say it was the toughest thing physically I have ever done, except childbirth. (But a few of my labors were shorter than this race )It wasn’t the running, it was the obstacles that were so tough. We slid down mud slides into water, climbed walls,rope walls, swam in 43 degree water, pulled blocks of concrete tied to ropes, climbed under barbed wire. The toughest obstacle was carrying like a 40lb. sandbag up a super steep hill, that was hard enough to climb up without a sandbag. Then you had to carry in down the other side.  We also carried a 5 gallon bucket of tiny rocks up a hill and then back down.  These obstacles occured around mile 5 and 6.  We were pretty well spent after those 2. But we kept powering through. And after jumping over fire and being struck with jousting sticks, we crossed the sweet, sweet finish line where we received our medal, a towel, and a tshirt! We were covered in mud…through all of our layers of clothes, our ears, nose,teeth, everywhere!

Today, I woke up looking at all of my bruises, scratches, and cuts and I felt good about each and everyone. I knew my body was sore because it WORKED yesterday. This was really an experience I cannot describe. But I know it is an experience I will not forget.

Ashley’s birthday was Friday. I made pancakes. We spent the day running errands and then got ready to have a small family party Friday night.

We celebrated both of the kids birthdays Friday night with family and some close family friends. I made a strawberry cake with chocolate icing. The kids had superhero capes made by MoMo. Kurt and I set up a few little games I had seen on Pinterest in the backyard. It was a nice, stress free evening. Kyle had a great time playing with a few of his little friends and we enjoyed seeing everyone.

Then on Kyle’s actual birthday we had to go to the doctor for the kids’ annual check-up

Stats:

Kyle Height 39.5 inches (Samantha was about this height at 5, Sydney was 4 1/2) about 90th%ile

Weight: 38 pounds. He knew all of the questions the doctor asked and everything else was good. We will have to take him for another ultrasound on his kidneys. (We go once a year to check a little thing he was born with that has never caused problems, but we have to check on it anyway) about 90th%ile

Ashley  Height 29.5 inches long (about 50%ile…where Kyle was at 8 months)

Weight 21 pounds and her head was 19 inches(above the 90th%ile) The doctor was very pleased with her as well and her verbal skills  She is walking 10-15 steps at a time, but I wouldn’t say she is walking.

That night we took Kyle to Chuck E Cheese so he was in heaven.

I think Kurt enjoys himself as much, if not more, than the kids

Getting the tickets

Imagine that, Kyle likes the shooting games

I made him a chocolate cake which we enjoyed while opening gifts.

And his gift from Sydney…some old books she doesn’t read anymore and some change from her piggy bank! Ha!

We took some superhero prints we had and framed them for his wall.

Great birthdays for 2 great kids!